


Our Boyfriend is Eldritch Google

by ineedmysickfix



Series: Scottish Safehouse: Polychives Edition [2]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, One Shot, Sasha James Lives, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), author doesn't know how to tag lol, oops author added in a bit of angst, polycule, scottish safehouse period, self doubt, tim stoker lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedmysickfix/pseuds/ineedmysickfix
Summary: Times in which Jon's Beholding power is useful for his partners.Set in the Scottish safehouse a bit after they all left the Institute. Also Tim and Sasha are alive and they're all in love.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Sasha James/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker
Series: Scottish Safehouse: Polychives Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049723
Comments: 22
Kudos: 192





	Our Boyfriend is Eldritch Google

**Author's Note:**

> I had a non sickfic idea and thought it'd be cute to write it!  
> There needs to be more polyarchives cabin fluff in the world.

It’s peaceful in the early morning of the Scottish countryside. Inside of the small safehouse tucked away behind rolling hills, Tim and Martin are upstairs, fast asleep with their limbs tangled together as they lay on two beds pushed together. Downstairs, Sasha sits on the floor of the living room, papers strewn about in front of her while Jon sits on the couch and braids her hair. 

There’s a calm stillness of the cottage only broken by creaks of the old wooden structure and the soft sounds of Sasha’s intense research. She scribbles in a small notebook in her lap as she looks over the various books, statements, and newspaper clippings. There’s a small mountain of crumpled up pieces of paper forming a few feet away from the wastebasket. Sasha sighs as she tears out and crumples another page from her journal, throwing it in the general direction of the other scrapped paper. There has to be a way to kill Elia- no, not Elias anymore. It never really was him in the first place. Sasha groans and runs her hands down her face. “God! I can’t find anything useful! There has to be an actual concrete way to kill this bastard right?”

Jon hums thoughtfully as he finishes up the loose plait in Sasha’s hair, leaning over her shoulder and glancing at the papers. There really isn’t going to be any useful information with what they have. They didn’t have time to grab that much when fleeing the Institute, just boxes of random statements, a couple recorders and tapes, some old newspapers with articles about the Magnus Institute, and their own notes. 

Jon looks down at Sasha and his head starts to fill with static the second the question leaves her mouth. He leans forward and rests his chin on top of her head, “It’s not going to be as simple as pushing a button or pulling a trigger. Jonah Magnus’ connection with the Eye as well as his deep rooted allyship with the other Fears has been enough protection to warrant off anyone who’s threatened his life. Even Gertrude Robinson couldn’t find a proper way to get rid of him before he murdered her. He has been alive for centuries at this point so he’s had plenty of time to plan and build defenses to make himself as indestructible as possible. And even though he’s told us that by killing him we’d be killing ourselves, that wasn’t entirely true. His powers may be beyond our abilities, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. If we want to come up with a solution to end his literal reign of terror, we need to find a way to sever his ties to the entities.” When the static in his brain fades into a reasonable background hum, Jon buries his face into Sasha’s hair.

“Oh! Sorry, love,” Sasha says, bringing a hand up to cup Jon’s face. “I didn’t mean for you to use your powers like that.”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Jon sighs and leans back into the couch. Ever since he first developed his Beholding abilities, the others have tried to be careful with their questions. But sometimes they accidentally let things slip by. “At least it was some somewhat useful information.”

Sasha gives Jon a comforting smile and joins him on the couch, letting him rest his head in her lap. She runs her hands through his hair, it’s gotten fairly long at this point, and looks down at the papers. Maybe the answer will eventually pop out at her if she just stares at them long enough.

* * *

It’s Martin’s turn to prepare dinner. They all came up with a system so that cooking is on a rotation and everyone can show off their culinary skills, or lack thereof in Tim’s case. Luckily Martin isn’t horrible in the kitchen. He knows a few simple recipes and has been able to experiment and adjust to all their tastes. And tonight has been deemed pasta night. 

Vegetables are all cut and ready to be added into the tomato sauce that’s simmering on the stove. A large pot of water is being brought to a boil for the pasta noodles. And Martin is busying himself with a new tea he bought from the small mom and pop shop in town. He hums contentedly as he smells the aroma emanating from the tin. “Mmm, I’ve never tried this blend before. It smells divine!” Martin excitedly says to Jon who’s sitting at the small dining table.

“Well you better like it. It was far more expensive than what we normally get.” Jon is challenging himself and trying to do a crossword puzzle without using his Beholding powers. But after skipping 5 words in a row, he gives up and turns his attention back to Martin. “And the only reason you got it was the packaging.”

“It has cows on it, Jon! Good cows!” Martin pours the pasta into the boiling pot of water and adds a pinch of salt for flavor. Bustling around the rather small kitchen, he sets about adding in the vegetables and a nice combination of various herbs and spices to the pasta sauce. Satisfied with leaving the food to cook, Martin puts the kettle on. “Okay, now to try this. Hmm, there don’t seem to be instructions? Just the name of the tea and the store on the packaging. And the good cows of course. But no instructions.” He turns over the small metal tin in his hands to double check, but can’t find any other information. “I think they make the blend themselves. Huh. I wonder if I should just make it the way I normally do. Or maybe there’s a special way to brew it?”

Jon sits up straight in his seat as his ears tune out the outside world and fill with familiar static, “This specific blend of black tea is hand picked and made by Olivia Clark, the elderly owner of Clark & Co. Grocers. This tea has a very strong aroma and flavor with hints of citrus and malt. An odd combination but Olivia’s great grandmother, Christel, was able to perfect it in the late Spring 1902. According to Olivia the best way to brew her family’s blend is to use water heated to 100 degrees Celsius, steep it for 5 minutes, and add milk when it’s ready. Just milk, no sugar or any other additives.”

The static fades and Jon looks up to see Martin taking notes. “Oh, sorry Jon. But, um, thank you for that.” He shoots Jon an apologetic smile and looks down at his notes, wrinkling his nose as he rereads the instructions. “Ugh, really? Milk and no sugar? Oh well, it better taste good.”

The tea turns out delicious in Jon’s opinion, much to Martin’s chagrin, and is easily added to their weekly shopping list afterward.

* * *

This was starting to get annoying now. Jon rubs at his temples as he tries to fight off an oncoming migraine caused by Tim’s insistent questions. They’re the only two at the cabin as Sasha and Martin are out running errands. Currently, they’re both sitting outside underneath a tree located a few paces from the back of the cabin.

“Okay, okay, okay. Last question I swear this time!” Tim places a hand on his heart and raises his other hand.

“Tim,” He really should’ve gone with them into town, or maybe should’ve convinced Tim to tag along. “That’s what you’ve been telling me for the past 20 minutes.” Tim has been berating Jon with random questions and prompts varying from the exact temperature of the Sun to the production process of googly eyes. It's been getting on Jon's nerves and he's very close to going back inside.

“No, really. I’m serious!” Tim waits until Jon relents and looks up from his book. “Alright, so you how after it rains, the pavements are always covered in worms? Like not creepy Prentiss worms but regular earthworms? Why is that? Do they like, I dunno, come out and just wanna chill on the concrete?”

Jon closes his eyes and braces himself for the onslaught of information to fill his brain. But there’s no static, only the sounds of the birds and the light breeze rustling the branches above. Jon opens his eyes once he realizes, “Tim, I actually know why that is. It’s because earthworms actually breathe through their skin. When they’re underground there’s small pockets of oxygen in between the little granules of dirt that they can breathe in whilst they dig around and do.....worm things. But when it rains those air pockets get filled with water causing the worms to suffocate and go to the surface for air-”

“Ugh! Never mind, it’s no fun when you actually know the answer.” Tim huffs and sits back against the tree, crossing his arms like a grumpy child.

“Ah, alright then.” Jon says dejectedly and attempts his best impression of Tim’s sad puppy eyes, “I just thought it was nice to finally know something without having to Know it. But I get it, it’s far more interesting to get information from The Ceaseless Watcher than from your frumpy academic boyfriend.” He sighs and turns back to his book.

Silence hangs in the air as they sit under the tree. Jon turns the pages of his novel loudly and sighs sadly every few minutes. Tim wants to feel exasperated at the actions but Jon just looks too sad to be mad at, “Oh, that’s totally not fair! You finally learned how to weaponize how cute you are.” He slings his arm over Jon’s shoulders and pulls him into a side hug, “I think it’s fun to listen when you infodump, whether it’s fueled by an eldritch Fear God or not. I’d be happy to listen to why worms like vibing on the pavement.” Jon blushes and goes more into the mechanics of an earthworm’s body structure and how they’re not _vibing_ , Tim, they’re trying to not drown.

* * *

It’s late. Just past midnight, the Eye provides. Jon’s in the living room, listening to the sounds of the wooden cabin creaking and groaning as it settles around him. He can’t sleep. How could he sleep when he has all this information constantly flooding into his head without his permission. It’s been difficult learning to ignore it and filter out things he isn’t meant to Know. 

But he can’t help it when he’s able to pick out the exact brand of lip balm Martin uses with no memory of him actually telling Jon. Or when an old Stoker family recipe pops into his mind while he’s thinking of what to make for lunch. Or how no matter where he is, whether in the cabin or not, he could just Know when Sasha’s in a bad mood and needs a cuddle. These small details seem like nothing, easy to just brush off. But Jon’s still terrified of accidentally Knowing something more important, something that the others wouldn’t want him to find out.

Jon mindlessly reaches in his pocket in search of cigarettes but comes up empty handed. Damn, he hasn’t smoked since...well since he was given a reason to. Instead, he leans his head back and lets his mind wander for a bit. Without even focusing he Knows the number of crickets that are outside on the lawn right now, the molecular content of age old laundry detergent tucked away in the back of the broom closet, the thread count of the blanket currently draped across his lap. His Knowledge seems to be staying within the confines of the cabin tonight. 

He hears the bed upstairs squeak as someone shifts in bed. He could tell that it’s Tim without having to Know. His partners are fast asleep, have been for over an hour now. It’s odd, it only took being forced out of the Magnus Institute with nothing but years worth of trauma and each other to fall back on in order to finally get together. But. But is this whole... _situation_ just built on that? Shared trauma? “Is that the only reason we decided on this relationship?” Jon finds himself asking nobody in particular. Well, not nobody. 

Maybe….maybe they wouldn’t mind him Knowing. Knowing for sure that they may actually care about him. Just this once. Jon takes a breath and the static overtakes him. The second it does his mind is flooded with emotions. Trust, compassion, friendship, joy, fear, anxiety, affection, devotion, yearning….love. Tears fill Jon’s eyes when the biggest emotion to rise above everything is Love. He stops and lets himself cry. He shouldn’t have done that. He really shouldn’t have peeked into their feelings like that. But he doubts that the others will be angry over this.

“Jon?” He nearly screams when Martin places a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s late. What are you still doing up?”

Jon subtly swipes at his eyes and shakes his head, “Um, nothing, dear. Just couldn’t sleep is all. You can go back to bed.”

Martin furrows his brow, “Not without you, love. Come on.” Jon lets himself be led upstairs and into bed. He feels Tim and Sasha shift to include him and Martin in their cuddle pile. Surrounded by his partners, Jon succumbs to sleep as drowsy “I love you”s fill his head, drowning out the static.

**Author's Note:**

> oops added some angst at the end but rectified it by making sure Jon Knows that he's loved <3
> 
> Also the fact about earthworms was something I knew off the top of my head! I like telling people that random fact all the time lol


End file.
